That Red Bandanna
by Creep Candy
Summary: One town to another, always on the move. She wore it proudly and didn't care what anyone thought, bringing new lessons and stories wherever she went. She finally found one to match her own.
1. Rainy Days

**First off, I do not own any characters, all belong to Natsume. This will be my first Harvest Moon story and depending on how it goes, maybe my last. In this story is my version of city to farm girl Chelsea so she'll be, in a way, rough around the edges for the most part. I also apologize for the dialog length in some of the chapters. So, let's get started.  
**

* * *

Trudging down the immensely long hill path came an exhausted brunette who was looking forward to going home and flopping over on the warm cloud she knew as her bed. The friendly face of her puppy who would be glad to see that mama had returned home was a joy. The only downside to the walk home was that it was late at night and had been raining for a whole week. At the time, going home was what her heart wanted but her brain said no.

Without second thought she kept on walking past her farm, past the inn, and into Blue Bar. Soaking wet, she stood in the doorway, on the door mat, so she would not to drip water on the wooden floor. The bartender did her the favor of getting a towel and handing it over to her.

"Thanks, Griffin. Man, this rain's not gonna end anytime it looks like."

Griffin smiled and took his spot behind the counter once again, "It'll end eventually. Just, try to look forward to seeing the sun again."

"That's true. Hey is..."

Griffin nodded his head toward the back room, the brunette smiled and instantly headed up towards the back bedrooms. A quick knock on the door and her arm was latched on to before she was pulled in the room then thrown into a chair.

"You're soaked! Were you working late again?"

"Muff...when am I not working late?"

Muffy sighed then sat down in her own chair, "This job is not good for you. You really need a new one. Maybe I could talk Griffin into letting you work here."

"No, please don't. Please, I know I work hard and that it's not good for me but I need the money. I'm not complaining, but have you seen how many times a week I ship stuff from the farm?"

"Not very many..."

"Exactly."

Both girls let out a simple sigh then remained silent for a while. As Muffy went about her business, her friend dried off as best as she could when all of a sudden a loud argument erupted from the bar down below.

"Come on Chelsea!" Muffy said.

The two quickly headed down into the bar to see a somewhat drunken Rock and Griffin in an argument.

"If you're gonna be throwing things, get the hell out!" The bartender yelled. "I won't stand for you disrespecting this place or these people!"

The others in the bar made no move to go near Rock who was clearly in a drunken rage, he flipped his hair out from his face and glared at everybody but when he set eyes on Chelsea, he dropped the glare and replaced it with a look of lust.

"Hey baby, what's shakin?"

"Griffin asked you to leave, I suggest you do it. Now."

A sour expression quickly came over and he gave Chelsea a glare that she instantly returned.

"Fine bitch, I'll leave."

The room went silent and Chelsea's anger level skyrocketed. Without any warning, she shoved Rock out into the rain before shoving him more into the mud. The angry man instantly stood and shoved Chelsea back, Muffy stepped in and desperately tried to pry them apart as well as Nami who just happened to pass by at the moment.

Rock then grabbed Muffy and threw her down onto the ground because she was in the way then, backhanded Nami who staggered back a bit in shock. Chelsea was seeing red as she drew back her arm and plowed her fist deep into Rock's empty skull, as soon as he went down she jumped on top and pounded away at him until a pair of arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground.

Once she was off the ground, Chelsea seemed to calm down almost instantly, she calmed her breathing and was set on the ground again. When she saw who was around, it was just about everyone in town from Rock's wife to homeless Murrey. They all looked back and forth between Chelsea and the bloody unconscious Rock sprawled on the ground like a rug.

"He deserves it." Tim and Hugh said almost in sync while the others all nodded.

Chelsea went over and knelt down next to Rock, "Life isn't a free game. You have to pay eventually. Sorry Rock."

The brunette then apologized to the crowd and gave a half hearted wave before she headed straight home. She took a seat on her bed and carefully stroked her puppy's head, the little puppy curled up in his owner's lap and gently licked her injured hand.

Not bothering to turn the lights off, Chelsea fell back in bed and fell asleep pretty quick. She had closed her eyes for about a minute then when she opened them again the sunlight was pouring through the window.

She nearly threw herself out of bed when there came a knock on the door but instead she quickly regained her composure then answered the door to find a very happy and smiling Muffy standing there.

"Chels, guess what I did." The blonde said, looking about ready to burst in excitement.

Chelsea on the other hand stood there just looking at Muffy with a very confused expression to which the happy blonde giggled to. Finally, after about a minute, Chelsea sighed and gave up.

"What'd you do?"

"Well, I called up a friend of mine and we talked about you back and forth for a while, and she told me that you could move over to her area since the old farm owner recently moved away. Everything is all built already, all you have to do is move in. How does that sound?"

There was a small pause, then Chelsea latched to her friend in the biggest hug she had ever given anyone before. Muffy laughed and returned the hug, once done the realization hit Chelsea in the face. She was going to be moving, again. Well, shit.

"Wait wait, how am I gonna say goodbye to everyone and move all my animals and everything else?"

"Heehee, don't worry about all that. I've already taken care of it."

"Thanks a lot Muffy. I mean really, thank you."

The two shared a smile then took one step outside to find out it was raining again, they didn't care this time and they first went to go say goodbye.

* * *

"Ah, good morning Miss Chelsea, have you come to pick up Rose?"

"Good morning Sebastian, and yes I have. I've also come to bid you all farewell. Oh, and could you tell Lumina that I'm really, really sorry that I had to pound her husband into the ground?"

The butler gave a soft smile, "She already accepted your apology. No need to fuss."

Chelsea smiled in return then looked over toward the piano to see her cat lounging all on the keys. When she saw her owner, she immediately jumped from her spot and rubbed along Chelsea's leg, purring all the way. The young girl picked the cat up and let her ride on her shoulder, she said goodbye to the villa's occupants and left.

She had said byes to everyone but two of the townsfolk, she found them outside his yurt followed by the sweet nothings of his guitar playing. Quietly she took the seat next to Nami who greeted a smile with a smile, although her face was bruised, Nami found her smile in good friends and good music.

"Peace sister." Gustafa smiled.

"Hey, I suppose you heard about what was happening?"

The two nodded and Nami sighed, "Wish it wasn't so soon but, I'll be here cheering you on."

"I'm going to miss you guys so much, I just...don't know what to do."

"At least you've got your cat to keep you company." Gustafa smiled at the cat who was tucked away in Chelsea's shirt, sheltered from the rain.

* * *

Now that the goodbyes were taken care of, next up were all the animals. Luckily, Muffy and Takakura were there to help load the animals onto a large covered cart which would hold them while everything else would be loaded for the boat ride. It took the majority of the day to get all of Chelsea's things packed up and ready to go. The final thing would be something Chelsea never even thought of.

"You're kidding right? A makeover?"

Muffy giggled and nodded, "First things first, untie your hair."

Chelsea sighed but did exactly as she was told, once she undid her hair tie, her hair fell freely down to the base of her shoulder blades. Constantly she pushed her bangs back which made the blonde giggle, she took great care in snipping small bits of Chelsea's hair away then combing it and re-combing it twice over to make sure it was styled perfectly.

"Now to get you some new clothes."

Chelsea sat and watched as Muffy dug through and ripped apart her entire closet as if it were meant to be used for that, at one point Muffy seemed lost in the closet but she finally let out an excited squeak which let Chelsea know that the blonde hand found something.

Muffy emerged from the, now empty, closet with a simple farmers outfit and red rain boots.

"You can wear this, it used to be mine but it's too small."

Chelsea smiled and hugged her friend, she then remembered one tiny detail. She pulled out a red bandanna from her pocket and wrapped it around her head. Muffy smiled because she knew that Chelsea had been saving that bandanna for a rainy day, and today fit.

* * *

**On another note, I hate Rock.**


	2. Smiles

A wave of chills shot through Chelsea's body as she stepped off the boat and onto the dock of Sunshine Islands. The chills were not of fear but of excitement, the sun was out and there was a tall woman on the dock scanning the boat. When the two girls made eye contact, they waved and Chelsea went to greet her.

"Hiya, I'm Julia. You must be Chelsea, right?" Julia smiled and outstretched her hand.

Chelsea smiled and shook hands with the other, "Yep. I'm Chelsea, nice to meet you."

"Oh, this is so exciting! Muffy has told me all about you but maybe you could tall me a bit more, right?" Julia happily threw an arm around Chelsea's shoulder and gave her a hug that way.

"You bet." Chelsea said, not so used to hugs though.

So that was that, Julia was even nice enough to get help for unpacking Chelsea's things from the carpenter named Gannon, at first Chelsea was intimidated by Gannon's appearance but he quickly reassured her that there was nothing to be afraid of. Together, they all got Chelsea's everything down to the plot of land that would be her new ranch.

"This place is huge!" Chelsea exclaimed, out stretching both arms and spinning in a circle.

Never before had she seen a size property that belonged to one person. The field stretched on a good distance and just like Muffy had said, there was a chicken coop, a barn, and even a place her pets could roam instead of being cooped up in the house all day.

Since there was still time, Chelsea let her animals roam around their new home, after they were settled she left them in their appropriate buildings to get settled there as well.

* * *

"You sure do love your animals, you remind of my cousin." Julia smiled.

Chelsea tipped her head over at her new friend, wondering what she meant by that but had no desire to pry into the matter. The two of them walked all over the all over the islands, meeting everyone they could, seeing the sights and so on. Chelsea felt happy to see all these new faces, happy and smiling faces.

"So, this is your place of business?"

"Yep yep. Come on in, you've got to meet my mom."

Julia nearly dragged Chelsea along inside, behind the counter stood an older looking woman who smiled as the two came in. She walked out from behind the counter and greeted Chelsea with a friendly smile and a handshake which the brunette gladly returned.

"You must be Chelsea," The woman said. "Julia told me you would be showing up soon, I'm Maribelle Glad to meet you, and if you ever need anything, you come and let me know."

"Thank you ma'am, I will do that."

Maribelle smiled then went into the kitchen, "How does some lunch sound, girls?"

Both Julia and Chelsea looked at each other then quickly followed behind Maribelle who chuckled to herself.

* * *

All was not happy and smiling for one young man who just stepped off the boat, early that afternoon he had received the news that he would no longer be needed the majority of the week and would instead only be needed Friday night and Saturday mornings, why? Simple, his boss decided they needed a friendlier face for their business.

That news of course didn't go over very well with the silver haired and he was not at all happy. That was an understatement, he was pissed.

As he approached his aunt's shop, he noticed that it was louder in the shop than before which gave him no desire to go inside but he was hungry so, he did anyway. What he did and did not find confused him, a loud shop with only three people inside. His aunt, his cousin, and a stranger.

"Oh!" Maribelle chimed. "Here he is now, Vaughn, this is Chelsea. She's the new rancher that just came here. Chelsea, this is my nephew Vaughn."

Chelsea and Vaughn looked at each other, he wore a stone cold stare to her half hearted glance. She simply shrugged off his looked and sipped her water. He gave a signature huff and snatched an apple from the counter, he then headed for the door when Maribelle stopped him.

"Vaughn, what's the matter?"

"I'm not a people person..."

"Could you at least try to be nice to her?"

"...Fine." He let out a frustrated sigh, tipped his hat and stormed out the door.

In the kitchen Julia had engaged an interesting conversation with Chelsea. Back and forth they told stories about interesting people, places, things and such. For Chelsea, it was like talking to Muffy all over again and that alone brought a smile to her face.

As Julia rambled on and on, Chelsea sat there and listened to her heart's content, she always did this with the girls in her old village so she was used to it even if she wasn't one to stop and chat.

Chelsea considered herself to be a tomboy city slicker with her farm as a retreat from reality. Everything was easier on the farm than her job in the city, even if they were both hard work. It wasn't the work that bothered her anyway, it was the people.

Oh how she loathed being near city people but...those small town folks...they provided her comfort.

Might sound crazy but, she didn't care.

"So, tell me a bit about yourself."

Chelsea blinked a couple times then looked at Julia who had her chin in her hands and was eagerly staring at Chelsea with curious eyes, Chelsea had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she had edged out everything. Behind Julia was Maribelle who was washing dishes and she could just point out Vaughn in the other room.

"I love my animals, I'm a fool for good friends and good music, and I have a short temper that has relatively gotten better. I hate it when people bother me while I'm working but there is a cheerful side to me. I love to laugh and to smile and be around people I'm very familiar with. How's that?"

The girls just stared at her while the silver haired remained absolutely silent. Sure he had processed everything Chelsea but no, he didn't care. He didn't need to, she was just another person anyway nothing special.

His entire body tensed and shoulder's jerked as a sneer masked his face when a hand clapped down on his shoulder.

"You alright Vaughn, honey?" Maribelle asked.

He let out a small hiss, "You nearly gave me a damn heart attack."

He shrugged off her hand and stormed out the door again, he desperately needed to get away from the situation. Maribelle sighed and went back to what she was doing while the other two sat silently together at the dinner table. Chelsea took a sip of her water then smirked.

"Does he ever smile?"

Julia sighed, "Yeah...but, he only does it a few times every now and then. He does hang around with Denny from time to time so I suppose he smiles than, mostly, he'll do it around the animals the most."

"Well, I guess not everyone has the urge to smile all the time, I'll see you later then. Bye Julia, thank you Miss Maribelle for the meal."

Maribelle sent on over the shoulder smile to the brunette who waved before leaving. Once outside, she took a deep breath of the sun stained air, tightened her bandanna and headed off to her property where she would get to planting the seeds she had purchased earlier from Chen.

She cleared the land, cut the lumber and pounded the stone away. It was after all that, that she set up the perimeter fence and let her animals roam around the property. She really wasn't sure why the property had such a large space when she only had six animals that followed her around like ducklings do their mother.

She loved her animals with all her heart, they were gifts from her parents after all. She had been a farmer for a few years, nine to be exact, and almost every year from her beginning, her parents would bring her a brand new baby animal to have and to raise with all the love she could provide. Her most recent of half a year was her puppy, Otto.

And with Otto being such a young puppy meant Chelsea had a long couple years of training ahead of her, she didn't mind though. All she really cared about was how much fun it would be to spend all her free time playing with her animals and making new friends without the worry, of having to go to the big city for work.

She took her bandanna off and smiled as she ran her fingers across the fabric, the last birthday present she would ever receive from her parents was the small cloth in her hands, it always made her smile.


	3. Sweet Nothings

"Look at you. You're so gorgeous. Such a good friend, you're wonderful and I love you." Chelsea cooed as she hugged her cow's head against her shoulder.

The happy cow mooed and licked along her owner's cheek making the brunette giggle. She loved her cow, loved to spend time with her cow, loved it all. Chelsea had a big heart but she didn't let anyone ever enter do to having her heart broken so many times before, she knew she could trust her animals and her very best friends.

Chelsea blinked a couple times then looked down to see Otto who was pawing at her leg, he looked as though he was frowning with his ears back and his big sad eyes eating away at her. She knelt down and ruffled the pup's fur.

"What's the matter, Otty?"

Otto let out a whine and tried to jump into his owner's lap. Chelsea obliged and picked the pup up, proceeding to cuddle him gently. He was in his favorite place to be, head rested on her shoulder and eyes closed. She was proud to admit that Otto was her baby, she treated him like one and he acted like one so it worked.

Chelsea never really cared to the fact that once Otto was an adult, he would be much too big to carry anymore which was one of the reasons she carried him and her cat, as well as her chicken, around with her from time to time. Her other animals were much too big to even think about carrying, so they made do by following Chelsea around all over the property as well in the barn.

She would always talk to her animals in a lovey-dovey manner and they gladly returned the love by nudging and nuzzling their owner in the same lovey-dovey manner. They made each other happy, and Chelsea needed that because, they were the family that she had trusted.

* * *

**One of the shortest chapters so far, I'll try not to do too many.**


	4. The Vampire

"Oh, what a sweet little dog." Sabrina cooed, gently petting Otto's head.

"Yeah well, he's a real pal. Sweetest pup I've ever met." Chelsea beamed with her hands on her hips, looking oh-so proud.

Sabrina wasn't exactly Chelsea's piece of pie but she was pretty, kind, and quiet. She loved seeing Sabrina smile and it made her happy to know that she the skills to allow someone to smile around her without the fear of having someone being afraid of her. Hearing that she made Sabrina happy just by saying a simple 'hi' also made Chelsea internally happy.

"Hey Sabrina, you said you have a dad, right?"

"Hm? Oh, yes I do. He's mostly busy though."

"Oh, I was just wondering what he's like."

Sabrina put a hand against her cheek with her head tilted slightly, "Well...he's a little...um, rough I suppose b-but he's alright once you warm up to him."

"Excuse me."

Chelsea felt a tap on her shoulder so she turned her head and nearly jumped out of her skin, "Holy shit, a vampire!"

Of course, the high and mighty Regis was not at all happy by the young farmer's remark. A heavy frown painted his face as he observed Chelsea up and down, first impressions were everything and she had not made a very good one.

"Um, um Chelsea, th-this is my father Regis." Sabrina said, smiling nervously as she watched the two stare at each other.

"So your name is Chelsea? Humph, what business do you have being in my domain?" Regis asked coldly, raising an angry eyebrow.

"Well, I was just visiting Sabrina, she wanted me to come over." Chelsea answered simply. "We're just about done here anyway. C'mon Otty."

Sabrina and Chelsea said their goodbyes and as she exited the house, Chelsea could here the faint argument trail out from the closed door. As she headed back home she met up with Julia and Natalie, Otto went right up and was instantly being cooed over by the two girls.

"Oh, hey Chelsea!" Julia chimed as she and Natalie flashed their smiles.

"Hey, did you know you have a vampire on the islands?"

At first the two were confused. A vampire? How? Once they realized Chelsea was actually talking about Regis, they busted with laughter. He really did look like a vampire which was why it was funny and he even acted like one with how he dressed and the way he slinked around, even with his creepy cape. Julia and Natalie just couldn't disagree.

Julia gave Chelsea a smile and pat her shoulder, "Don't worry, you're not the only one who thinks Regis is a vampire."

Chelsea rolled her eyes but she smiled at her friends, to her, making friends as quick as she did was nothing short of a miracle. Sure, she had done it before but these new ones...were made much quicker than anyone else.

"Here's your dog back." Natalie said, handing Otto to his owner.

Once in his owner's arms, Otto became that happy wiggly pup once again. Just as Chelsea was about to take herself, and her wiggly pup home, she was stopped when a hand dropped on her shoulder.

"Just make sure you keep the vampire away from your animals." Natalie smirked.

"Ha. Ha." Chelsea sneered then walked off, a smile on her face.


	5. No Charity

Julia stood, hands on hips with an unamused look about her. She was simply watching her cousin as he lounged in the dinning room chair. Chair tilting back and his feet on the table, he looked pretty relaxed with his hat over his eyes.

"Y'know, you could be working right now." She said. "Get off your lazy ass and help with the delivery, Vaughn."

"Nah."

A twitch shot through Julia's body at his response. Without a second thought she knew exactly what to do to get him up. Vaughn felt a quick breeze blow past his head and the sudden light change blinded him for a moment, Julia quickly hauled herself out of the shop and down the path way, Vaughn hot on her heels.

With nowhere to run Julia headed down to the beach, there she set the hat down in the sand only to be tackled face first into it. An angry huff escaped Vaughn's mouth as he snatched his hat up from the ground.

"Okay...not cool, now that you nearly broke my nose for your stupid hat, will you just deliver some pet food for me?" Julia asked, picking herself up and glaring at the cowboy.

"I don't do charity..." He snorted.

"Just do it." She glared a deadly dagger at him before heading back to the shop.

He stood there a moment, silent and his fists buried deep in his pockets but he knew if he didn't do the work he would receive an earful from his old aunt Maribelle and he really didn't need that at the moment. He sighed to himself then followed Julia to the shop.

* * *

Vaughn had been waiting for a while now, he had knocked on the door several times already but had yet to get an answer. Impatiently he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, tapping his foot and sighing every now and then. Under one arm he carried three bags of pet food that he was told to deliver to Pralin Ranch. The only frustration, where was the owner?

Just when he had had enough and turned to leave a sudden shriek got him to jolt. It sounded like it came from the back of the property so that's where he headed, when he heard another shriek it became easier to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

Chelsea jumped almost out of her skin when the barn doors flew open, she whirled around to see Vaughn standing there, looking out of breath as if he'd been running. She stood up from her spot as he walked over to her.

"What's going on in here?" He asked quickly and firmly.

"Nothin'." Chelsea stated as she turned back to her work.

"Then what was all that noise for?"

"I was playing with the animals."

Now he was feeling foolish, all that to find out nothing was wrong? Good going there Vaughn. He sighed and looked away from the brunette, once she was finished in the barn they exited together.

"Hey, I see you brought over the food I ordered, thanks Vaughn."

"Huh..."

"Hey...why did you come all the way over hear to check on the noise? Some heroic side just clicked?"

He twitched to those words and quickly looked away from her, "D-don't misunderstand! Anyone on the island would've done what I did...and don't even think about telling anyone I did this!"

"Sure. Secret's safe with me, cowboy. Tell you what, go back to work and I won't bother you for the rest of today."

He didn't know how to respond to that. He had been around a ton of people that had bothered him repeatedly which in turn made him lose his temper but now, here Chelsea stood looking as honest as ever and Vaughn chose to believe her.

"...Thanks." He tipped his hat and walked off.

Chelsea smiled as she watched the cowboy leave, once he was gone she continued with her work. All the way back to Maribelle's shop Vaughn's mind told him the same thing.

Maybe charity wasn't so bad after all.


	6. Respect

"Blink."

"No way."

The two girls kept on glaring at one another, trying to get the other to blink in order to lose. After about two minutes their eyes began to burn to the point where they could no longer take it, they blinked at the same time.

"Ah! My eyes!" Lanna cried, frantically rubbing her eyes to rid the pain.

"Ah shit! It burns!" Chelsea cried, doing as Lanna did.

Blinking away the pain, Lanna sighed once she recovered from the staring contest, she looked over at Chelsea and gave off a friendly smile.

"That was fun, thanks for playing with me Chelsea."

"Hey, any time, chicky."

Lana giggled at her pet name then sipped her water, Chelsea gazed around the diner with little interest and no desire to eat or drink even though Lanna had offered multiple times to get her something. Chelsea was doing her best to focus on the faint music playing throughout the diner.

"Hey Lanna, you sing right? You've been in the city so you know lots of songs, right?"

"Yes, I practice my singing all the time, times when I've been in the city I've had my experience with plenty of music types."

"So, if I sung part of a song would you be able to say the next line?"

Lanna paused a moment then smiled, "Let's try it."

Chelsea smiled, glad Lanna was going to try her challenge and even happier that she gave her the chance to come up with a song. Lanna eagerly watched, and even giggled, as she waited patiently. After a few moments Chelsea's mind clicked with a song.

"Three, six, nine."

Lanna smiled happily, "The goose drank wine."

"The monkey chewed tobacco on the base car line, the line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven in a little row boat!"

The two laughed as they sang together, not caring who heard, who saw, not at all. They were having fun and didn't care about much else. One thing Chelsea wished her mind would stop doing though, was comparing all her new friends to her old ones. She loved all of them but, her mind kept comparing.

Chelsea sighed and dropped her head on the table with a thick _thud!_ while Lanna just looked at her. Slowly, Chelsea lifted her head up, rubbing her temples and groaning so that she sounded like a cow.

"That hurt...don't let me do that again..."

Lanna couldn't help but laugh which earned her a slap on the arm. Both their heads popped up towards the diner door and they watched as Denny and Vaughn sat at a table nearby.

"Vaughnie!"

The high pitched, sing-song voice made him flinch at first but then, he simply let out a frustrated sigh.

"Lanna...I've told you so many times...not to call me that..."

"Oh but you're so dreamy!" The blonde squeaked.

"I..."

"Don't you think he's dreamy, Chelsea?"

"Do I what? What?"

When she did click back into reality, Chelsea realized all eyes were on her and she just looked between Lanna and Vaughn, not sure what to say at first but as the wheels began to spin around in her head she finally did know exactly what to say.

"No. I don't think he's dreamy and you should really respect that he doesn't like to be called "Vaughnie"."

Lanna's smiled faded away to which a pout replaced it, she sighed then apologized to Vaughn before collecting her things. Once she was gone Vaughn looked at Chelsea who was just sitting there rocking her head back and forth with the beat of the song playing.

"Hey uh...why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

Vaughn sighed, "Why did you say that?"

"Oh. I just thought it was the right thing to do."

There was a silence between them as Vaughn glanced around for a couple seconds then returned his gaze to the brunette.

Vaughn jolted forward slightly at a sharp nudge in his back then sent a hard glare at Denny who smiled and went to the front counter. Chelsea looked over at the cowboy once he sat down, wondering why he was still there.

"So, um, thanks." He mumbled.

"Welcome." She said.

Although the two of them were quiet together it only took Denny's pleasant attitude to get them all talking which was exactly what the farmer and cowboy needed.


	7. A Phone Call

"Hey Julia?"

"Yes Chels?"

"I thought Vaughn worked all week except Monday and Tuesday?"

"Oh well he does but...I guess something happened at work so he's not working those days anymore?"

Chelsea remained quiet for a while. She knew Vaughn liked his work because he was around animals and not so much the people but ever since whatever happened, he's become really depressed looking. He didn't even speak with Denny when the two went to the diner as much.

"Julia, do you have the number of his work?"

Julia looked at Chelsea for a moment then nodded to the phone.

The brunette nodded then walked over to where the phone was located, she soon found the number conveniently written on a notepad by the phone and she dialed the number.

* * *

"What'd you do?"

Chelsea simply smiled at the blonde. "Vaughn will be getting a phone call a little later. I'll see you tomorrow Julia."

Julia watched Chelsea leave, curiosity eating away at her but she decided to wait for Vaughn's call to find out.

Within hours...

Vaughn returned home to find Julia calling for him, he found her in the other room holding the phone to her shoulder.

"What?"

"Phone for you."

He sighed and swapped places with his cousin.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Vaughn? I was calling to tell you that I expect you to return your normal work schedule by next week."

Vaughn had not uttered a word but he heard the click of the phone being hung up. He blinked and set the phone back down then exited the room in confusion.

Julia looked up from her cooking pot at her cousin. "Who was it?"

"It...was my boss. He called to return my work schedule to normal."

Julia giggled causing Vaughn to just look at her, "Well, you can thank Chelsea for that."

The silver haired didn't know how to respond but he knew he would go say thanks to the new farmer.


	8. Thank You

It was early in the morning as Vaughn made his way to Chelsea's house. When he arrived he noticed that her animals were out and about in the pasture while he cat lay asleep by her shipping box.

Hesitantly, he knocked on the front door and jumped back at how quickly it opened up. Chelsea tilted her head at him while Otto, being held in his owner's arms, yipped happily at him.

"Morning Vaughn." She chimed, smiling at him.

"Morning...um...Chelsea, I wanted to come by and, well, thank you for what you did for me."

"Oh, no problem Vaughn."

He frowned a moment and turned his gaze away from her. Why did she treat it as such a small thing? She was so nice...

"Chelsea, I...I have a question..."

"Yes Vaughn?"

"Would you...consider dating me?"

There was a long silence and Vaughn sighed sadly to himself as he got no answer.

"I'm sorry," He said, "I guess it's too early for that..."

Vaughn turned to go but was stopped by a kiss planted on his cheek.

"Yes, I'd love to."

The cowboy looked at her, cheeks burning hot, and smiled at her.


End file.
